Introduction
William Hodges, founding partner of Piedmont Capital, joins Jack Ossa on The Power of Design Podcast to explain how a commercial real estate investment firm works and how he built one in the Carolinas. Piedmont Capital was founded in 2021 and acquires core-plus and value-add properties.
William was born and raised in Charlotte. He and Jack know each other from earlier design work and are now partners in a building they purchased and renovated, so the conversation is friendly and direct about both the business model and the people behind it.
About the Episode
William studied real estate at the University of Georgia, then spent about four years working in NASCAR, including media sales for the Motor Racing Network. Back in Charlotte in 2013 he started in apartment leasing, got his real estate license and did landlord representation on retail and office properties. He says the sales experience carried over, because every business needs business development and cold calling is part of buying property directly from owners.
He explains why he left leasing to focus on acquisitions and started Piedmont in 2021. His first three deals were done with joint venture partners who raised half of the equity and contributed experience he thought he already had. He then recruited three partners from his list of people he trusted and respected, each covering one part of the process: underwriting, debt and closing, and asset management after closing.
William also answers Jack's question in simple terms: it is like buying a house in a good location, improving it and renting it, only at a larger scale. They talk about investors, returns, time and autonomy, and each describes where their companies could be in ten years.
Key Takeaways
- Know the risk spectrum: core, core-plus, value-add and opportunistic carry different risk and return, and Piedmont targets the middle.
- Buy where you know the market: the firm only invests in Carolina markets where the partners have deep familiarity.
- Path of progress: Piedmont looks for occupied properties that produce cash flow while the land value grows over the hold period.
- Raise capital deal by deal: no fund and no investment minimums, so each deal has to make sense for the investors.
- Silos and trust: one partner for sourcing, one for underwriting, one for debt and closing, one for post-close management.
- Business development matters: without business coming in, finance and operations have no customers to serve.
- Time and autonomy: without a salary, flexibility and the ability to decide for yourself are part of the compensation.
Highlights from the Conversation
I will take that quick no over silence any day of the week.
William Hodges
Business development is arguably the most vital component of any business.
William Hodges
Time is obviously the most finite resource that we have. It's quite literally the only thing that you can't buy.
William Hodges
Topics Discussed
- From NASCAR media sales to commercial real estate
- Cold calling and building relationships with owners and brokers
- Starting Piedmont Capital and the first joint venture deals
- Core, core-plus, value-add and opportunistic strategies
- Self-storage acquisitions in a higher-rate environment
- How the partners divide the work
- Finding investors without minimums
- Autonomy, time and the ten-year vision
Why This Conversation Matters
Anyone who owns, buys or repositions commercial property needs to understand how investors think, because architecture and design are part of how value is added. A new facade, a better entry or a renovated interior is exactly what turns a value-add plan into rent. That is the work we do in architecture and interior architecture, as in our Coliseum Drive and Liberty Plaza building repositioning projects.
About the Guest
William Hodges is a founding partner of Piedmont Capital, a commercial real estate firm he founded in 2021 that acquires core-plus and value-add investments in the Carolinas. He is responsible for the firm's strategic direction and sources its opportunities. A Charlotte native with a real estate degree from the University of Georgia, he previously worked in NASCAR media sales and in leasing and landlord representation in Charlotte.
